Oxnard Residence Inn by Marriott sold for $23.6M

Capping a spree of hotel real estate deals in Ventura County, the Residence Inn by Marriott in Oxnard has changed hands for $23.6 million.

Pasadena-based investment company Cavort Properties bought the Residence Inn on Vineyard Avenue next to the River Ridge golf course in a deal that closed on Oct. 1. The hotel, along with the Courtyard by Marriott located down the road on East Esplanade Drive, was foreclosed on in 2010, and it’s been in the midst of legal and financial troubles since then.

Brighton Management, a real estate development firm in Diamond Bar that specializes in hospitality properties, will manage the hotel. The Residence Inn marks the sixth property in Ventura County that Brighton either owns or manages.

Brighton bought the historic Pierpont Inn in Ventura for $6.5 million at a Sept. 14 auction, a purchase that came six weeks after the investment company purchased the Courtyard by Marriott Oxnard for $11.4 million.

Michael Blahosky, senior vice president of the Los Angeles office of real estate advisory firm HREC Investment Advisors, arranged the sale of the property. He told the Business Times that Ventura County mid-market hotels are excellent investments. “Brighton is an equity partner in the Courtyard, but I don’t think they were offered the opportunity to buy [the Residence Inn],” Blahosky said. “Brighton will manage the property … and those guys are really good managers, too.”

Brighton is taking over operations from Rim Hospitality, a management company based in Newport Beach. Blahosky said all of the hotel’s current employees will be retained.

In addition to the Pierpont and the Courtyard by Marriott, Brighton also owns Country Inn & Suites — soon to be rebranded as a Holiday Inn Express — in Port Hueneme, which had an estimated value for tax purposes of $9.2 million in 2011. The company has owned Four Points by Sheraton in Ventura Harbor and Holiday Inn Express in Ventura for the past six years.

Michael Schaefer, senior vice president of full service hotels at Brighton, told the Business Times in September that the company is focused on marketing Ventura County as a tourism destination. “We love Ventura,” he said after Brighton bought the Pierpont Inn. “We’ve been very successful in the area, so we want to keep our eye on the winning formula.”